Seriously. The omission of this feature in the new layout is simply stupid beyond stupid. Why this feature disappeared is beyond me, because being a regular poster on several different boards is damn near impossible without it.

In case it's not clear, I'm talking about the indicators on the thread list page which tell you which threads you've posted in, and how many new posts there's been in a thread since you last looked. The old layout had them, and the new one doesn't, for absolutely no reason. Nothing has been gained by removing those indicators, and the forums have been pretty much broken without them, as far as I'm concerned. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.

This should be a #1 priority fix. It needs to happen right now. I've been a regular on this site for almost 10 years, and if these indicators aren't brought back by next week at the absolute latest, I'll have no choice but to take my internet traffic elsewhere, as I can't keep up a discussion on these forums without them.

Seconded. The new layout should have never even made it to beta without that. It's such an obvious and essential feature, it literally hurts my brain to think of how stupid a designer would have to be to have overlooked it in the first place.

Same here. It has been a hassle to scan through all of the topics you've been following. In the old site, just a quick scan of the forum page and you'll have all the info you need. You also have the posting history in profiles for that too. What we have so far is only a list of our recent posts and threads we participated in under Watched Topics.

And I'd prefer individual boards per platform. I really think it's more organized this way.

IPB forum software has a great feature, it allows the members to mark unread threads as read. This is a great way to mark threads that one isn't interested in as read so on can see what threads have been posted in at a later time. IPB software also allows the clicking on the last poster's name to go to the first unread post.

I imagine they'll add it to the new site sooner or later, it's a feature that a lot of us want after all, just a matter of when it gets added.

The thing is... why would it have been removed in the first place? It's not like it's a new feature that lots of people want. It's an essential feature, that had been present on the old site for like 10 years. It should have been a no-brainer. Like, it should have been implemented, without a second thought or hesitation, right along with page numbers. It's just as important and fundamental, if not more.

It will be nice if/when they bring it back (although if it takes more than another couple days, I won't be sticking around to see it), but the fact that the new site ever even existed without it is just.... facepalmingly stupid.

Yeah, this is easily the biggest issue I have with the site as of now, and it definitely needs to be fixed!

Sure, there's a profile feed where you can keep track of threads you posted in, but that's a very clunky feature compared to the simple convenience of a marker we had before. Also, I really have no idea who thought it was a good idea to include "Views", while removing the number of new posts for threads. As you said, hard to be a regular when you can barely keep track of your forum activity.

Well I honestly thought that the thread title being white meant you haven't been in or there are new posts, and when you posted it went grey, like an already clicked hyperlink goes a purple when clicked.

Terrible and I can't go remembering every single thread I've been in, in order to remember "Yes I've posted in this thread and it's white again, therefore there are new posts." - Definitely not good enough, bring back the old indicators or make new ones to spice things up a little.

Also when you look at your own posting history and click the topic it used to take you to your last post - letting you continue reading from that point on. Now you just go back to the top of the first page on the discussion and have to scroll back through to find your last post.

a suggestion.

if i may. each could be either emboldened when they apply or empty of their 'check' unless applicable.

top left when clicked would take you to where you left off in a thread. it would also, by being checked or unchecked, indicate if you have read that particular thread. (the new posts / bookmark button) hypothetically if this were to happen, it would still look nice to keep it the way it is, in that each title is bold depending whether you have read each topic or not.

top right would lead you to your most recent post in the thread. (the posted in button)

bottom left would be the watched topic button. clicking would either watch or unwatch a topic. its supposed to be an eye. mspaint, woo!

bottom right would be at the staff's discretion. im sure they would find a useful purpose for it. perhaps clicking it would bring you to a stats page; number of views, who posted in, how many times each has. how many people are watching the topic; once they have that working properly so that commenting in, doesnt automatically watch a topic. maybe they could put an x or circle there to indicate when a thread is either locked or pinned instead of the little graphic that offsets the title as it does now.

this could also be mirrored next to, or somewhere in, every item in the list of each user's 'forum' section or their favorite / watched topic section to quell the hurting over the loss of the contributions section from the old version.

@the_bi99man: I can say for sure that this won't be happening in a week. However I have added this to the queue of site enhancements for the development team to review.

UPDATE: After speaking with one of the leads from the development team I have this to report: It (a new posts in thread indicator) is a difficult feature, and we are still working on general site performance, but we will revisit this feature later.

@the_bi99man: I can say for sure that this won't be happening in a week. However I have added this to the queue of site enhancements for the development team to review.

UPDATE: After speaking with one of the leads from the development team I have this to report:

It (a new posts in thread indicator) is a difficult feature, and we are still working on general site performance, but we will revisit this feature later.

Thank you for the honest reply. I'm not happy with the current turn of events, but glad to see our complaints aren't falling on deaf ears.

I just hope the "later" part doesn't refer to a very lengthy time period, as this is a pretty major issue, and the lack of the said features is a tough pill to swallow for just about any regular from the "old" site, so it should be given a priority.

@the_bi99man: I can say for sure that this won't be happening in a week. However I have added this to the queue of site enhancements for the development team to review.

UPDATE: After speaking with one of the leads from the development team I have this to report:

It (a new posts in thread indicator) is a difficult feature, and we are still working on general site performance, but we will revisit this feature later.

I had to open a different browser to post this as for some reason, quoting you would not work in my default browser.

How can a feature be so difficult to add when there are plenty of forum software packages that do that right out of the box? My favorite developer's forum shows me that a thread has been posted or been posted in by bolding the topic thread. If read or marked as read (there is a button that allows one to mark the whole forum as read if one is not interested in all the topics made), then all the thread titles are in standard fonts. I also know that I have posted in them due to a star instead of a dot shows that it has been read or not read too. One can go directly to the post if one wants from the main page of the forum just by clicking on the title of the last thread posted in.

Once on the sub-forum, I can click on the dot, star or the date and be taken to the first unread post as well. I also can see who has posted in the thread and how many times just by clicking on the total post number of said topic. Once in the thread and posting, there are ways to quote multiple people or just one. If you reply to one post and then reply to someone else's or just post a new post right away, it is added automatically to your previous post. of course, BBcode works on that software too.

This is one of the reasons why I have stated that this particular software that GS is using is lacking. Such features should be part of the package and not just added in.

@the_bi99man: I can say for sure that this won't be happening in a week. However I have added this to the queue of site enhancements for the development team to review.

UPDATE: After speaking with one of the leads from the development team I have this to report:

It (a new posts in thread indicator) is a difficult feature, and we are still working on general site performance, but we will revisit this feature later.

Thank you very much for the reply. Good to know that the staff is aware of the need for this.

However, I must say I'm a little suspicious of the claim that it's a difficult feature, considering that it was already in place on the old site, and had been for like 10 years. I'm definitely still under the impression that it was simply forgotten about, because the people handling the redesign didn't have a clue what they were doing.

Still though. Good to hear that it's known and acknowledged. There is hope yet!

This is one of the reasons why I have stated that this particular software that GS is using is lacking. Such features should be part of the package and not just added in.

Exactly. That's what bugs me the most about the whole situation. That's an essential and fundamental feature for an internet forum. Granted, I don't frequent many forums, so I'm not sure about what else is out there, but it I don't understand how anyone could even make a forum without these indicators.

Sure is a lot more important than having a user's name and post count appear twice with every single post... Or having the forum name appear underneath the title of every single topic (I know I'm on the bug reporting and feedback forum. there's a title at the top, and I clicked on the damn thing myself. I don't need to be reminded 50 times on the same page of what I'm looking at).

I do like the navigation link at the bottom that says Forums > Bug & Feedback > It allows for one to return to that forum topic page or the main forum page after making a post instead of having to scroll all the way to the top of a page, especially when it has a ton of quote chain posts in it.

This is one of the reasons why I have stated that this particular software that GS is using is lacking. Such features should be part of the package and not just added in.

Exactly. That's what bugs me the most about the whole situation. That's an essential and fundamental feature for an internet forum. Granted, I don't frequent many forums, so I'm not sure about what else is out there, but it I don't understand how anyone could even make a forum without these indicators.

Sure is a lot more important than having a user's name and post count appear twice with every single post... Or having the forum name appear underneath the title of every single topic (I know I'm on the bug reporting and feedback forum. there's a title at the top, and I clicked on the damn thing myself. I don't need to be reminded 50 times on the same page of what I'm looking at).

You'd be surprised to know that Giant Bomb suffers the exact same issue as do a few other forums I've looked at after GS removed this function. Not surprising considering they're an affiliate, but still.,.....the feature is a forum no-brainer. It shouldn't even need to be asked to be included and tbh I'm bewildered that there's not more people complaining. I made a similar topic that was stickied for a few weeks and was just unstickied so I got a bit worried that it's going to be ignored but it's good to see that the staff responded here. The web designer replied in mine so that's also comforting.

For now I'm keeping about 10 browser tabs open at a time so I can just refresh and read where I left off. Good thing I have dual monitors.

How can a feature be so difficult to add when there are plenty of forum software packages that do that right out of the box?

This code isn't out of a box, it's house built.

I'm not saying that it is a good reason for why some of your favorite features are gone, it's just -the-reason. The dev team knows that we want / need these things back (trust me I'm pretty sure they're tired of hearing from me at this point). Once the site gets on track we can start working on these things that the community wants.

Yes it sucks, yes you guys should have had these things at launch, yes you deserve it for being with us for so long, but all we can do is ask that you wait with us just a bit longer. You know, kind of a sticking with us in sickness and in health kind of thing.

How can a feature be so difficult to add when there are plenty of forum software packages that do that right out of the box?

This code isn't out of a box, it's house built.

I'm not saying that it is a good reason for why some of your favorite features are gone, it's just -the-reason. The dev team knows that we want / need these things back (trust me I'm pretty sure they're tired of hearing from me at this point). Once the site gets on track we can start working on these things that the community wants.

Yes it sucks, yes you guys should have had these things at launch, yes you deserve it for being with us for so long, but all we can do is ask that you wait with us just a bit longer. You know, kind of a sticking with us in sickness and in health kind of thing.

That this forum is house built shows. That this forum and website should not have been launched until all the features wanted and needed also shows. I previously stated that there should have been more beta testers with a wide range of internet browsers used, yet that did not happen as while some features work for others, for others, with different browsers do not. People that have not been on the website as long as others were invited, yet those who have been here 10 years were left out.

Thank you for noting that right now, the website and forums sucks. I am sure the dev team is tired of hearing about the features that are still missing that keep members happy, but as a team that has funds to work on them compared to independent game developers who can barely afford to create a game and uses non-paid personnel to create and publish and run forums that have all the features members want and expect as seen in the below quote about a feature from a forum software maker, there is no reason why that they could not have done so from the get go whether home made or not.

I still come to the forums right now, but I spend less time now, compared to what I used to, spend on them. I recall other members stating the same thing.

IP.Board automatically keeps track of unread content for your users

It's tough to keep up with all the content that is posted to an active community. Luckily, IP.Board automatically remembers what a user has seen, so that unseen content can be highlighted for them. Even if they read a topic and come back later, the topic will be highlighted for them if someone else has replied.

Plus, browsing into the topic will automatically take them to the first post they haven't seen before. IP.Board makes browsing a busy community efficient.

I still come to the forums right now, but I spend less time now, compared to what I used to, spend on them. I recall other members stating the same thing.

You can put me in that camp. I understand there are challenges associated with that feature but really hope that it has been moved up on the priority fixes board and won't be continually passed down because of it's "difficulty". I fear the longer these forums go without it, the lonelier the forums will become.

I still come to the forums right now, but I spend less time now, compared to what I used to, spend on them. I recall other members stating the same thing.

You can put me in that camp. I understand there are challenges associated with that feature but really hope that it has been moved up on the priority fixes board and won't be continually passed down because of it's "difficulty". I fear the longer these forums go without it, the lonelier the forums will become.

I've been here since around 2001 under two accounts and can say that there was a consistent bug that would arise every so often which would basically remove showing new posts at all so there's obviously something going on that they've always had a hard time getting a grasp on. I thought that's why it has been removed with the revamp but I'm now growing confident that GS will (eventually) fix this. I actually like the redesign (though I miss the "preview" feature) but this problem of showing no new posts is a pretty major flaw. Hopefully it won't be more than a few months before they get it working. It is curious though why GS would even relaunch the site with such a thing missing.

So, an update: For a minute there, I started thinking that maybe there WAS actually an indicator for new posts, just not with the actual number of new posts. I had noticed that the titles of topics I had looked at/posted in had gone grey in the thread list page (like an already-clicked link), and they seemed to be going back to white when there was new posts. But then I did a couple experiments, specifically looking for it, and I can't seem to find a pattern. The links are never grey when I haven't looked at a thread yet, but they don't always go grey after I have, either. And sometimes, after going grey, they go back to white when there hasn't been any new posts, and sometimes they stay grey, even when there are new posts. So, I'm pretty sure that's not actually a new post indicator. Or, if it is, it's broken.

Have to agree. The notifications system is not at all user friendly. I'd rather have the indicator that I posted in a specific thread with the new posts so I can go back if I chose.

Edit: Also blog notifications. With all the post notifications the blog notifications get lost and it's difficult to keep up with friends blogs. And while we're at it...can we stop blogs from showing up in forums?

Edit 2: Can quotes be cut down after two or three? I try to do that myself but then sometimes it cuts down the entire quote chain and I have to start over. It's kind of annoying when quotes get long.

ive lost track of several threads that ive posted in. re-read several threads, because i forgot where the last post i read was. even came across a couple threads that i posted in, but had no recollection of posting in it, due to no way of knowing if ive read/posted in a thread, other than memory.

this shit is fucking annoying. i find myself spending more time over at /b/ than here.

+1, For me this is the thing I miss most from the old Gamespot. This and how returning to a thread you've previously posted in takes you to the first post and not your last post, likewise with reloading a page.

can't believe this still has not been resolved, and on a similar note, neither has showing an indicator for any topics you've posted in. simple, essential forum features, completely overlooked. there's just no excuse for it